~~LONDON (AFP) - Texting behind the wheel is more dangerous than drivingwhile under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, researchers saidThursday.

Research carried out on 17 young drivers (aged 17-24) using a simulatorfound that reaction time slowed by 35% when they were writing or readingtext messages while driving. In comparison, reaction time deteriorated by21% for those under the influence of cannabis, and by 12% at the legalalcohol limit.

Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) -- which carried out the study for theRAC Foundation -- also found that steering control worsened by 91% forthose who were distracted by texts, compared to 35% when cannabis wasinvolved.

The tests also showed that texters were less able to maintain safedistances from other cars and they tended to drift out of their lane moreoften.

RAC Foundation director Stephen Glaister said the research "clearly showsthat a motorist who is texting is significantly more impaired than amotorist at the legal limit for alcohol."

TRL researcher Nick Reed added: "When texting, drivers are distracted bytaking their hand off the wheel to use their phone, by trying to readsmall text on the phone display, and by thinking about how to write theirmessage. This combination of factors resulted in the impairments toreaction time and vehicle control that place the driver at a greater riskthan having consumed alcohol to the legal limit for driving."

Nearly half of all drivers aged 18 to 24 in Britain admit to texting whiledriving, according to an earlier RAC poll of over 2000 young drivers.~~

The race of man shall perish, but the eyes
Of trilobytes eternal in stone,
And seem to stare about in mild surprise
At changes greater than they have yet known.
- T.A. Conrad

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
- William Blake,
excerp from Auguries of Innocence.

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